Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan Health System researchers assessed whether surgical start time impacted neurosurgery operative morbidity and published the results in Neurosurgery.
The study included 15,807 patients undergoing neurosurgical surgery between Jan. 1, 2007, and Aug. 1, 2014, at University of Michigan. Faculty and resident neurosurgeon self-reported morbidity and mortality rates revealed 785 complications.
Here are four takeaways:
1. The researchers found odds of complication rose 50-plus percent when the surgical start time was between 9:01 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
2. Regarding surgery length, odds of complication increased for later time periods 9:01 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
3. Researchers found differentiating a surgery as "emergent compared to elective" offered a statistically significant factor in predicting complication severity.
4. The researchers concluded patients undergoing surgery between 9:01 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. experience a higher risk of developing morbidity.